ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) -Tampa Bay Rays left fielder Carl Crawford and shortstop Jason Bartlett were both out of the starting lineup Monday night against Cleveland due to injuries.
Crawford has a sore left hamstring. It’s not known if he will be able to start on Tuesday.
“I hope so,” Crawford said. “We’ll see tomorrow. It’s one of those things where I probably played with it the whole first half. I’m just trying to find a way to beat it. It’s probably just better to rest it. It’s sore. It’s strained. Every time I take a step it feels like it’s about to pull. Hopefully it will it get better soon.”
Crawford underwent treatment Monday. He said the soreness has increased over the past few games.
“It wasn’t getting better,” he said.
Bartlett hurt his right index finger Sunday when he took a pitch off the finger when he tried to bunt. Doctors drilled through the fingernail to help reduce swelling.
“I’m not doing anything today,” Bartlett said. “Who knows about tomorrow? It’s day to day. It’s a lot better today, and hopefully it will be a lot better tomorrow.”
Bartlett is available to pinch run.
The Rays considered moving rookie third baseman Evan Longoria to short, but opted to have utility man Willy Aybar fill in for Bartlett. Longoria started Monday hitting .279 with 21 homers and 67 RBIs.
“We thought about it, but I prefer to leave it alone,” Rays manager Joe Maddon said about moving Longoria. “Where he’s arrived at, as a professional right now, it’s in his and our best interest to leave it alone.”
It was Aybar’s first start of the season at short Monday.
Also, the Rays could make a decision on outfielder Rocco Baldelli’s status on Tuesday. Baldelli, sidelined by chronic muscle fatigue, completed a minor league rehab assignment Friday and worked out with the team before Monday’s game.
“We had a nice conversion,” Maddon said. “We’ll talk with him again tomorrow about where it’s at.”
If activated from the disabled list, Baldelli will play in a part-time role.
“I fill very confident he’ll be back,” Maddon said.
Baldelli has played in just 127 major league games since the start of 2005 season. He appeared in 35 games last season before being sidelined by a hamstring injury on May 15.
“There were probably days when I didn’t know if I was going to be able to make it back or not,” Baldelli said. “It was really difficult both physically and psychologically, emotionally. It’s been a difficult period of time and I’m not back yet so I don’t want to get ahead of myself. I’m really looking forward to this on a lot of different levels.”
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